Bread Café Bakery — Restaurant in Green Brook Township

Along a busy highway you will pass Bread Cafe Bakery. I was always curious about a 'bread cafe' as what could they possible sell - bread??

Both my wife and daughter were eager to stop here and so I have been here several times.

Bread Cafe Bakery may be more accurately described for those who are curious as a Colombian Food & Bakery establishment. Once I found this out it was like - mystery solved!

One sign on the side of the building does specifically describe this establishment as Columbian but it requires you to be up close, you will never see this driving by at 50mph.

Staff is all smiles and helpful, they speak English and Spanish, some may pass questions off to employees if they are not sure what you are asking but do not be deterred if you are not a Spanish speaker.

Inside it does feel like a small bakery or lunch spot I might happen into in the Caribbean, a lot of warm wood accents and colorful hand written signs in English and Spanish. Bright glass cases with every imaginable bread, cookie, tamales, donut, croissant and another with hot foods including rice & beans, chicken, sweet plantain, bistec (steak/beef), French fries, and on and on.

Along one wall they also have a number of drink dispensers with a variety of really interesting juices including Maracuya (passion fruit - one of my favorites!), Mora (blackberry), Lulo (Naranjilla - I don’t know what this is lol), Horchata (usually a nut based sweetened milk).

Some of the breakfast options I have not tried but they look amazing, you can get eggs with rice, beans and plantains and everything has a really home cooked flavor because it is home cooked.

If you are looking just for your typical jersey ham or bacon egg cheese, they really do make one of the best. I counted three or four pieces of Taylor ham with a large egg, cheese and they serve with ketchup packets but their own sauce on the side which had a bit of spice to it.

The other thing you should know is that all of the baked goods, and I mean there are probably several dozen or more, including deserts, are all made on at this location. Not many places you can go that are actually still baking like this so I give it high marks for this reason alone.

They have a number of small tables, I think 2 or 4 seaters I think, so you can sit and eat if you like. Definitely seems like this place is a favorite of some expats from columbian or similar areas, that’s always a good sign as you get be pretty sure everything is authentic.

So this is a neat place to try, you do get transported into a small local bakery, maybe in Colombia or some other South American country but definitely not 50 feet from a highway in New Jersey. Worth a stop, they will have some recognizable menu items for this not aquatinted with Columbian / Spanish food and employees were always helpful to answer...

Fantastic Authentic Colombian Bakery that just opened up !

It's the best and actually the only real Colombian Bakery and semi-restaurant within a 5-10 mile radius, I would say.

Empanadas are some of the best I've tasted. Bread is very fresh and they also have plenty of options for cookies and other pastries. All the staple Colombian drinks are offered in bottle/can form.

Deduction of a half a STAR because they do not have batidos available as of the time of this review 03/15/21. (For those that are unfamiliar, this is sort of a Spanish version of a smoothie except not as thick or sugary they often come in either water or milk as a base. And in most cases you can ask for even less sugar or no sugar)

Quarter STAR deduction because the ready made lunch was a bit lukewarm IMO however the taste was amazing !

Portion size for the lunch offered was a bit smaller than usual but I think if you pair this with an Empanada or another snack offering it's plenty of food.

Cheese Bread in the shape of a croissant was excellent ! Rice was delicious and just the right amount of salt. Nothing was overcooked or undercooked.

Lastly a quarter STAR deduction for the endless loop of Ed Sheeran songs. Was driving me crazy !! The music was slightly louder than it should have been also the have a TV but it makes no sense to have if they plan on blaring Ed Sheeran songs on repeat.

Not a place I would bring a date necessarily TBH. Don't get me wrong this location is VERY VERY clean and everything inside is brand new. This is more of a takeout Bakery/Restaurant than a romantic or a place with ambiance for small conversations with a nice lady or nice fella or nice lady-man-lady.

If you are ever in the area and/or traveling from out of town, this is definitely the spot for your Colombian fix. I also encourage those that never tried any sort of Colombian food to come check this place out. It's a pretty good representation of some typical dishes found in south america. (Specially in Colombia)

Final Verdict: Fours...

Horrible place to eat. One star is too much for this place. I went there with my husband and girls, ordered 3 empanadas and they were not edible! They weren't cooked on the inside and they had no flavor at all and when I told the cashier and showed her the raw dough, she kind of smiled and said that it was potato wich is stupid since I've eaten Colombian empanadas for years and know the difference. I tasted it in front of her and asked her if she wanted to taste it and she obviously declined. She didn't even ask me if we wanted something else instead, as long as they make business out of you they don't care if what they're selling is garbage. My husband ordered a Bandera paisa wich was another disappointment, he couldn't even eat it, it was the worst Bandera paisa he's every tried, we wasted $41 in this place wich I also thought was pricey especially when we threw everything in the garbage and were still hungry. Never going back...